COLNE never recovered from a terrible start as Ashton United caught them cold in NWCL Division Two.

After just 15 second the visitors took the lead. They worked the kick-off down the flank and Dominic Shinks finished off the resulting cross.

And things quickly went from bad to worse for the Holt House side. In the eighth minute a poor clearance from keeper Ross Baxter was latched onto by Paul Prescott and he made sure Ashton doubled their lead.

Then to make matters worse defender Richard Walton was sent off for a professional foul.

Colne had 78 minutes to battle back from a 2-0 deficit with just 10 men.

Sadly, it proved to be too tall an order for John Lister's men, who showed signs of tiredness after their exertions in midweek in the win over Nelson. Being a man short didn't help in the heavy conditions.

That said, Chris Ingham pulled a goal back for Colne in the 53rd minute when he got the decisive touch in a goal mouth melee.

But any hopes of a Colne fightback were dashed in the 64th minute. Ashton went down the other end and won a free-kick. It was only half cleared and Jamie Cavanagh grabbed the visitors' third goal.

Colne striker George Craddock, who had been kept quiet by the Ashton defence, grabbed second for the home side in the 89th minute but it came too late.

COLNE...2 ASHTON UNITED...3